The Weekender: May 23 – 25

GRAB a beer at the Royal Exhibition Centre, get a taste of Malaysia at Fed Square, celebrate the modern man at the Kelvin Club or watch some old school tap dancing at the Palais. Daniel Driscoll has you covered this weekend.

The Great Australian Beer SpecTAPularFriday, May 23 – Sunday, May 25 (Session times vary); Royal Exhibition Building (9 Nicholson St, Carlton)

Image: thelocaltaphouse via Flickr

The Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular is on again at the Royal Exhibition Building.

The festival celebrates the diversity of craft beer and the creativity of local and international breweries with 250 craft beers and 150 Breweries, showcasing some of the best craft beers on offer from Australia, New Zealand and around the world. The SpecTAPular will feature 120 World Exclusive beers specifically crafted for the event.

The event is not just about drinking excellent beer, with a gourmet food market, educational seminars, games and live entertainment all available during the three day event.

You’ll also come away with a grab bag of goodies with entry to the festival, nabbing you a souvenir GABS glass, Official Guide and Craft Beer Passport. The Passport contains more than $360 worth of offers at Melbourne and Victoria’s best craft beer bars, breweries and stores!

For lovers of craft beer, this is THE place to be this weekend. Drink, be merry and taste some truly great beers!

Celebrate all things Malaysia at the Fiesta Malaysia at Fed Square. The Fiesta showcases the diverse culture, cuisine, art and history of the Malaysian community. The day will be full of live performances, exquisite food, and traditional costumes and games at the House of Culture.

Aromatic food will be served up to satiate your hunger by restaurants and food vans including Harajuku Crepes on Wheels, Laksa Bar and Mamak.

Doa dan Dzikir Melbourne Inc. will be showcasing their Islamic singing and Nabel and the Wonderman will keep you grooving with their music as well.

A martial arts demonstration from the Hung Gar Shu Martial Arts School and a performance by Indian dance troupe Natya Bollywood will also highlight the different aspects of Malaysian culture.

Head down to Fed square and enjoy a great day of Malaysian culture and cuisine!

The Kelvin Club is hosting the Festival of Steve, a celebration of the modern Melbourne man in all his distinguished glory. The day will be full of education, music, fashion, comedy, food and drink focusing on gents.

Improve your billiards or poker game with experts on hand, learn about the wristwatch as an expression of style or get some tips on dressing up from some of the finest menswear businesses in Melbourne as they share their collective wealth of knowledge.

ARIA nominatedpedal steel guitar player Jason Walker, alt-country musician Cat Canteri of The Stillsons and jazz act Rebecca Barnard and the Romantics will be putting on some amazing music performances.

Comedian Andrew McClelland will keep you in stitches as you take a break from the activities on hand.

With this much free entertainment on offer it’s the festival no modern man should miss!

To close out Melbourne Tap Week, Glamour Puss Studios is putting on a spectacular free tap dancing show in the forecourt of the Palais Theatre in St.Kilda. The show will be the crescendo of the march ‘o’ glamour which starts at St Kilda Pier at 11 am.

Two hundred tap dancing ladies in polka dot dresses will dance their way up to Luna Park where they’ll perform a traditional Shim Sham Shimmy tap dance routine in the forecourt at 11.45 am.

At 12 pm the main show, Bouncing for Breast Cancer will begin at the Palais Theatre. Mascot Hello Kitty will be moving about the crowd collecting donations for the Cancer Council of Victoria.

It should be an amazing sight to watch so get down to St Kilda to enjoy the show in all its tapping glory!